Sky + Sky HD from box to HD PC Screen

mashamit

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Good Afternoon Everyone,
'm not sure if this question belongs exactly here, but feel free to move if necessary.

Here is my query.

I have just bought an all singing all dancing Dell computer with a 26" HD LCD screen.

I currently have a sky box (upgrading to HD shortly) and I want to beam or cable from the box to the screen so that I can watch my Sky on it.

1) I assume this can be done with a direct HDMI cable from Sky box to LCD?

2) Is there a system using say a cable from the sky box to an HDTV card in the back of the PC.

Any thought or additional information requests are greatly appriciated.
I
 
Hi and welcome to AVF.
It sounds like you can use the screen as a TV and connect the Sky direct to it.
You could probably connect into the computer then out again to the screen but is there any point in that?
You missed this thread immediately above yours: *****NO SKY or FREESAT Related THREADS In Here*****
 
hi,

many thanks for the quick reply.

to clarify, i need to send the signal in theory from downstairs to upstairs where my Study/Office is... I spend most of my time there so want to be able to watch the Sky there too.

As you say the obvious answer would be cable straight from box to screen, however due to the distance this may be difficult.

Ideally I would want the equivilant of a video sender... but for HD, if that makes sense. Or a cabled alternative
 
That's OK and thanks for the further detail.
A videosender is the easiest and most effective solution, but there aren't any yet for HD.
Cable is messy but could be done, though you'd have to divide the HDMI somehow which can cost a lot.
I think some people have used the system that carries data through the power mains for the purpose.
 
Can you tell me if its possible to put together your own HdMI cables, if so what is the cable type called for doing this?

You mentioned the powerline alternative, is this similar to using power lines for networking?
 
You can't build your own HDMI cable, but you can buy a good quality splitter for £15-20. HDMI doesn't like long runs though, so what is the distance from the box to the monitor likely to be?

I don't think you can transfer HD images via a home power system, but you can via CAT-5e or CAT-6 with a balun arrangement (don't confuse this with using a home network).

Forget about trying to connect HDMI to a PC capture card, that'll only work with a few channels as the remainder are all copy-protected.
 
You mentioned the powerline alternative, is this similar to using power lines for networking?
Yes, the same thing, but I've seen only vague references to it - martinj is probably right.
 
Many thanks for these replies.

It is quite a distance and a couple of floors between the box and the office.

I do however have an existing network running the length of the house, so the Cat5 solution could work.

Could you tell me where I can get more information regarding this? I assume I would need a device at each end which are connected to the HD box and the screen at the alternative end. if this is correct, do the devices act at part of a network or would the cat5 cable have to run directly from one to the other without a network?
 
I assume I would need a device at each end which are connected to the HD box and the screen at the alternative end. if this is correct, do the devices act at part of a network or would the cat5 cable have to run directly from one to the other without a network?
There are methods of using an existing network and sending a converted HDMI signal via IP, they need a box on either end. That's a more expensive solution than using straightforward converters, one on either end, that convert the CAT5/6 into the equivalent of a long HDMI cable.

HDMI over IP - HDMI 1.3 over Ethernet LAN

HDMI over Cat 5, Cat 5e and Cat 6 Cable

Watch out for the cheaper CAT5/6 converters, many require the use of two separate cables. Remember also that you'll need a HDMI splitter at the Sky HD end to obtain the two HDMI feeds.

1x2 HDMI Compact Splitter - HDMI Splitter

I have some units from HD Cable and they work well. You can also search the likes of Amazon.co.uk for similar items.
 
Thats great news, many thanks for the links. Would you say the quality suffers or are there no side affects from this kind of solution. i.e. loss of quality, buffering issues or other issues?
 
Both with the HDMI splitter and HDMI over IP, everything stays digital and there's no re-encoding so the quality stays exactly the same. The data is also transmitted digitally if you use the CAT-5/6 solution so should be loss-less too, but unlike the packet format used by an IP solution, may be subject to cable interference in some circumstances. If that happens the picture won't degrade progressively like analogue, it'll simply work or it won't.
 

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